Hampton City Schools Food & Nutrition Services stands behind the philosophy of continuous improvement of the nutritional integrity of our daily menus. In conjunction with the New Dietary Guidelines for Americans, all grains are made with whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables are offered with each meal. We have lowered the saturated fat and sodium content of our offerings. A vegetarian choice and salads are offered every day. Our school Lunches provide 1/3 of the dietary reference intakes (DRI). Along with a healthy diet, all customers are encouraged to increase the amount of daily activity. With small changes, a pattern of lifelong healthy habits can be achieved.

The Food and Nutrition staff provides overall supervisory support, menu planning, food purchasing, inventory control, fiscal services and training for the department. Please feel free to contact us with feedback, questions, or problems with any of our sites or programs.

All meals served must meet standards established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, if a student has been determined by a doctor to be disabled and the disability prevents the student from eating the regular school meal, the school will make substitutions prescribed by the doctor. If a substitution is prescribed, there will be no extra charge for the meal. If your student needs substitutions because of a disability, please contact Edwina Forrest, RD, SNS at (757) 727-2350 for further information.

All children in households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are eligible for free meals. Foster children who are the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are eligible for free meals. Students who are eligible for Medicaid may also be eligible for free or reduced price meals based on the household’s income. Children who are members of households participating in WIC may also be eligible for free or reduced-price meals based on the household’s income. If your total household income is at or below the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines, shown on the chart below, your child(ren) may get free meals or reduced price meals. Your child(ren)’s application from last school year is only good for the first few days of this school year.
YOU MUST SEND IN A NEW HOUSEHOLD APPLICATION FOR EACH SCHOOL YEAR.

HOW TO APPLY
Applications can be filled out online. Complete one (1) application for all the students in your household.
Go to: www.hampton.k12.va.us
Highlight the “Parents” tab
Click on “Apply for Free & Reduced Price Meals”
Complete web based on-line application.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL OUT A PAPER APPLICATION IF YOU FILLED ONE OUT ELECTRONICALLY.Or
Return a paper application by mailing it to Food & Nutrition Services or drop off at any school office. Food & Nutrition Services would like to receive the applications before the school year begins (preferably in August) so there is no delay in meal benefits.

Households that are receiving SNAP or TANF for their children as of July 1, 2017 may not have to fill out an application. Food & Nutrition Services will notify you in writing of your child(ren)'s eligibility for free meal benefits. Once notified your child(ren) will receive free meals unless you tell the Food & Nutrition Services you do not want benefits. If you are not notified by August 21, 2017, you must submit an application. The application must contain the names of all students in the household, the SNAP or TANF case number, and the signature of an adult household member.

If you do not receive SNAP or TANF benefits for your child(ren) complete an online application online or return the paper application to the school division. If you do not list a SNAP or TANF case number for the child(ren) you are applying for, then the application must have the names of all students, the names of all other household members, the amount of income each person received last month, and how often the income was received. An adult household member must sign the application and include the last four digits of the social security number. If the person does not have a social security number, check the box provided indicating none. You or your child(ren) do not have to be U.S. citizens to qualify for free or reduced price meals.

If you are applying for a foster child, who is the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court, an application may not be required. Contact Mrs. Debbie Conway at (757) 727-2350 or email hcs-freereducedfaq@hampton.k12.va.us for more information.

If you are applying for a homeless, migrant, or runaway child, an application may not be required. Contact Dr. Bruce Copeland at (757) 727-2440 for more information.

FEDERAL INCOME GUIDELINES: Your child(ren) may be eligible for free meals or reduced price meals if your household income is within the limits on the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines chart shown below.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Hampton City Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or other protected classes in its programs and activities and provide equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following person has been designated to handle inquires regarding the non-discrimination policies, Robin G. Ruth, Executive Director of Human Resources. One Franklin Street, Hampton, VA 23669, 757-727-2318.

For each additional family member add: $7,733 | $645 | $149
An application that is not complete cannot be approved. An application that is not signed is not complete.
You must send in a new application each school year.

OTHER BENEFITS: Your child(ren) may be eligible for other benefits such as the Virginia children’s health insurance program called Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) and/or Medicaid. The law allows the school division to share your free or reduced price meal eligibility information with Medicaid and FAMIS. These programs can only use the information to identify children who may be eligible for free or low-cost health insurance, and to enroll them in either Medicaid or FAMIS. These agencies are not allowed to use the information from your free or reduced price meal application for any other purpose. Medicaid officials or officials with FAMIS may contact you to get more information. You are not required to allow us to share this information with Medicaid or the FAMIS program. Your decision will not affect your children's eligibility for free and reduced price meals. If you do not want your information shared, please check the appropriate box in PART 6 of the application. You may qualify for other assistance programs. To find out how to apply for SNAP or other assistance programs, contact the local social services office in your area.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND NOTICE OF DISCLOSURE: School officials use the information on the application to determine if your child is eligible to receive free or reduced price meals and to verify eligibility. As authorized by the National School Lunch Act, the school division may inform officials connected with other child nutrition, health, and education programs of the information on your application to determine benefits for those programs or for funding and/or evaluation purposes.

VERIFICATION: School officials may check your eligibility at any time during the school year. School officials may ask you to send information to prove that your child(ren) should receive free or reduced price meals.

FAIR HEARING: If you do not agree with the decision on your application or the results of verification, you may wish to discuss it with officials in the school nutrition office at the telephone number below. If you wish to review the final decision on your application you also have the right to a fair hearing. You can request a hearing by calling or writing the following official:

REAPPLICATION: You may reapply for free and reduced price meals any time during the school year. If you are not eligible now but have a change, such as a decrease in household income, an increase in household size, become unemployed or get SNAP or TANF for your child(ren), fill out an application at that time.

If you need help filling out the application form, please contact the Food & Nutrition Services Office at 757-727-2350.
You will be notified when your child(ren)'s application is approved or denied.

HCS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or other protected classes in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Robbin G. Ruth, Executive Director, Human Resources, One Franklin Street, Hampton, VA 23669 757-727-2000.

NONDISCRIMINATION/NONRETALIATION NOTICE
As stated in School Board Policy AC, Hampton City Schools (“HCS”) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, age, disability or other protected class in its programs, activities and employment practices and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. HCS also prohibits retaliation under School Board Policy GBAH for the purpose of interfering with a person’s rights and/or privileges under federal civil rights laws, which can include: (i) raising concerns with Division personnel about a civil rights violation; (ii) asserting a right or advocating for the rights of a student or employee under federal civil rights laws; or (iii) participating in a complaint investigation or related proceedings.

All individuals are encouraged to promptly report any incident they believe to be discrimination, harassment or retaliation in violation of HCS School Board Policy. All reports should be made to the HCS Compliance Officer, who also serves as the HCS Executive Director of Human Resources. Upon receiving a report of alleged discrimination, harassment or retaliation, the Compliance Officer shall promptly authorize an investigation into the complaint, determine whether the alleged act occurred, and determine whether any action must be taken to end or prevent further harassment, discrimination, or retaliation. For more information about this process, please review School Board Policy GBAB-R.

Should you have any questions about these procedures or the contents of this notice, please contact Hampton City Schools Compliance Officer at: One Franklin Street, Hampton, VA 23669 or (757) 727-2300.

Hampton City Schools (HCS) is committed to making its website accessible for all, including individuals with disabilities, and strives to ensure accessibility currently and as new technologies emerge. The division welcomes questions and feedback on the site’s accessibility at each development phase. By clicking on “Contact” at the upper right of the main webpage, all users are able to “Help Resolve a Concern,” “Share a Story,” “Provide Feedback,” and “Ask a Question.” Additionally, the Contact Us page provides direct email access to HCS Webmaster Vickie Carper, vcarper@hampton.k12.va.us.

Please note that some pages on the HCS website contain links to third-party sites. HCS is not responsible for the content, facts, opinions or accessibility of third-party sites.

HCS WEBMASTER AND ACCESSIBILITY

The majority of pages in our site are available in HTML format that can be deciphered by screen readers. Some documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF), which require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

The HCS website is designed and monitored by HCS Webmaster Vickie Carper, who serves as the gatekeeper for website content and accessibility. The Webmaster is under the direction of the Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing, supervised by the Director of Graphics.

When submitting a question or concern via email, “accessibility” should be included in the subject line. Every reasonable attempt will be made to address the user’s concern within twenty-four hours. To assist HCS in responding appropriately, all inquiries should include the following information:

A description of the accessibility concern or question;

The webpage address of the requested material;

The format in which the user prefers to receive the material;

The user’s contact information, including preferred method of contact.

SELF-MONITORING

HCS monitors all technology resource activity and requires all employees, students and individuals with access to HCS computer systems and networks to annually read and sign an Acceptable Use Policy. See School Board Policy IIBEA for Students; School Board Policy GBBB for Employees.

Our continuing goal is for the HCS website to be accessible to individuals with disabilities in compliance with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and that statute's implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 104, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and that statute's implementing regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 35.

Good faith efforts are being made to ensure that our website complies with web accessibility standards. In addition to the federal regulations above, we are actively working to conform to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
Prior to posting new website content, the HCS Webmaster determines if the proposed content meets the criteria of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Periodically the HCS Webmaster checks the website with a recognized website checker such as 508 Checker and WAVE. If the audit identifies issues of concern or content errors that impede accessibility to any user, the concerns/errors are evaluated and remedied within a six-week period.

DISCLAIMER

HCS’s website and computer systems and networks are provided on an “as available” basis. HCS makes no warranties, expressed or implied, without limitation, regarding the fitness for a particular purpose regarding any service provided by the system and any information contained or software used therein. The division uses hardware and software provided by third-party technology vendors. Therefore, the division does not warrant that the functions or services performed by, or that the information or software on the system, will meet the user’s requirements.